Uptown girl with a Downtown man
by Hope7
Summary: Random Kainora drabbles
1. Air

**Hello, everyone! This is where I will put my Kainora Drabbles/oneshots because OMG guys KAINORA IS CANNON**! **they will be in no particular order. Enjoy!**

**i don't own The Legend Of Korra. **

Kai thought he knew freedom. It was the feeling you got when you raced down the back ally with your pockets full of gold. Gold you got just a minute earlier from the same high up rich guy who had, just last week told you not to touch his clean robes. But, he was wrong. His official freedom began one hot summer afternoon. The pickpocket had just taken a ring from the cart. The owner had chased him down the street, Kai was tired and he stopped running.

He thrust his hands in front of him to protect his face. And it happened. Wind burst out of his hands. The owner ran away. And Kai went to sell the ring. He spent the next two weeks learning how to control his gift. Until, he realized that he was wrong again. This wasn't freedom, either. It was only part of it. True, actual freedom, was being with Jinora, the girl around his age who was born with the gift. He loved her laugh, her smile, and even her scoldings. Because, in a way, that was freedom.

Air had given him his true, actual freedom. And he wouldn't trade that for any amount of gold. That's what he always told people.

Even before he found out that air was the element of freedom.


	2. Water

**hey, guys! Im glad you're here! And if you are one of the crazy .00000000000000000001 % of people who don't ship Kainora, you won't like it here. Enjoy this chapter.**

** I don't own these characters :'-(**

"Why do we have to train in the rain?" Kai half-whined.

"Because rain is water. And water is apart of life. Water _is_ life." Jinora answered patiently. "All life is sacred. We have to cherish it."

"I think I can cherish it just as well from inside." Kai contradicted.

"You can't. It's impossible to truly appreciate water unless you experience it first hand."

"Really, Jin? Did Tenzin train you to say that? What do you mean?"

"I _mean_ that you were supposed to read chapter four last night. It was completely explained there. Obviously you didn't."

"So, Jinora, how do you do the ancient air twist?"

Jinora rolled her eyes."Accurate wind tornado."

As she demonstrated, she couldn't help but realize that no matter how much Kai drove her crazy, he would always be her favorite pupil.

** That's all for chapter two! Let me know if you like it. Or, better yet, review if you think kainora is the best thing that ever happened to that show!**


	3. Earth

**Thanks for stopping by to read. Enjoy this chapter! Review, review, review!**

**I don't own the legend of korra.**

JINORA

There was a saying that it took all kinds of people to make the Earth work. But Jinora didn't believe it one bit. Because if all people were like Kai, she would be the **happiest** girl in the word. She could only imagine what it would be like if everyone had Kai's smile, his laugh, his personality. The Earth would work perfectly. Because Kai was perfect. Well, sure. He had his faults. Like stealing. And eating meat. But she was willing to look past those. (Mostly) because he was working not to steal and trying to become a vegetarian. As long as he was trying, she was happy.

KAI

She was his rock. It might seem strange, but it was true. She was why he got up at the crack of dawn to mediate. She was why he was making an effort to stop eating meat. She was why he wasn't (almost) stealing anymore. And she wasn't going to give up on him. She was his rock.

**Thanks so much for reading! Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	4. Fire

**Thank **you** for coming back to read! I hope you enjoy this chapter. And words-with-dragons thank you, that would be awesome. You have my full permission. Anyway, I hope you like this one! Happy reading:-)**

** I don't have the pleasure of owning these guys:-(**

He didn't Mean to. It was a complete accident. But he didn't think Tenzin knew that. All he'd seen was him fooling around with the burning coals. But as much as Kai tried to convince himself otherwise, he knew it hadn't been much more than that. The pair of airbenders were bored. Crazily bored. Excruciatingly bored. Or, at least he was. Jinora had been absorbed in a book on the original airbenders. She had been so busy lately, he had come to the conclusion that a small prank would do her some good.

But it hadn't. All it had done was bring her pain. So that her eyes would give him nightmares for weeks. Things he had never seen in the girl. Pain. Shock. Fear. Because eyes were the windows to the soul. Kai had hoped to pick a coal up, and extinguish the flame. Then he planned to send the rock in the air, trying to pretend he was an earth bender. But the weight of the small rock had surprised Kai, and he'd lost control. It flew onto his best friend's arm. And burned. She'd managed to put it out, but only seconds after her father had burst into the room. Ever since Korra set fire to the spinning door-wind-thingy, his nose had been on a constant lookout for smoke. One of the master's eyes glared at Kai with all his might, and one looked helplessly at his burned daughter. (He really needed to learn how to do that.) Jinora had been rushed to Kya, and Kai had been left to wait.

It was the worst hour of his life. But it got even worse when he saw Jinora come in. She had a bandage covering one eye, and her arm in a sling.

"Oh, Spirits Jinora. I'm so sorry." He would have loved to been yelled at, or scolded, or acknowledge by Jinora in any way. But he'd been left to silence. And that's what he got for three days. The most miserable days of his life. Until the third day turned into the best.

"I'm not mad at you, Kai."she said suddenly.

"Really?" He he half whispered.

"No. That's impossible."

"Why?"

"Because I know you didn't mean it. And... I care about you, Kai. A lot."

"Me too, Jin. Except ten times more."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." She smiled.

**I hope you guys liked it! Reviews, please! Have a nice tomorrow.**


	5. Seats

**Welcome back! First of all, THIS IS NOT THE END OF THIS STORY. Second of all... Um let me think... Umm happy reading.**

** I don't have the privilege of ownership over these adorable kids.**

When it came to where they sat in Tenzins airbending classes, Kai and Jinora had very different opinions.

For Jinora, it was front 'in center. That way you could soak up all the information possible. According to her, the further back you sat, the lower your grades were.

Kai was a back-row boy. The further back, in his opinion was the best place. You could slip out unnoticed and could whisper and cut erasers and for the most part, be free.

But when they met each other, Kai S-L-O-W-L-Y started moving up.

And Jinora S-L-O-W-L-Y started scooting back.

Until they met in the middle after one full week. One full week of scooting and sliding and pretending to adjust you shirt. But it was all completely worth it.

**Thanks for reading guys! As I said before, stay on the lookout because I will keep adding for a very long Tim. Review as always!**


	6. Pencils

**I'm not gonna keep you waiting long promise... Just a minute before I start the story. Omg guys! This is, what four Korra episodes without any Kainora reunion? What is going on? If I don't get something in the next three episodes then Korra is going to be pretty much dead to me. Happy early Halloween! **

Jinora's pencils were long and sharp. She didn't let them get more than halfway short before she passed them on to Kai.

Kai would not except any pencils if they were long and new. His were short, and would puncture your finger at the slightest touch.

It had killed him to watch Jinora throw away good pencils. They were a full two inches, and would make _arrows_ if he wanted them. Jinora didn't believe in airbenders using weapons. They already possessed a gift that gave them a huge advantage. Kai had said that they needed them if they were not masters, but sheepishly agreed when Jinora asked if he was so completely defenseless.

So Kai would get Jinora's old pencils, and Jinora would get Kai's new ones. And that was how it would be forever.

**I don't blame you if you didn't like this one. Next one will be better. **


	7. paper

**Hi out there! You can probably tell that with my stories, I pick a theme, and write four stories using that theme. The first theme was, Obviously, the four elements. This one is things that have some kind of relationship to school. If you have a theme that you would like me to do, review and let me know and I'll do it ASAP. Thanks! Happy reading.**

** I don't own these characters:,(**

If there was one thing Jinora and Kai agreed on, it was paper. They both had come to the conclusion that a fresh, clean sheet of paper was the way to go. No wrinkles, no marks, no nothing. Perfect.

If there was one thing Jinora and Kai disagreed on, it was how paper should be used. Jinora believed that papers purpose was for taking neat, detailed notes and writing lists of books for the future. On the other hand, Kai had long ago decided that it was perfect for origami. Frogs, stars, planes, you name it. He could make it.

Jinora couldn't stand it. It was a perfect waste of good paper and that's all there was to it. Or, at least, it was. She decided it was not a waste when he used them to write on. It was fine if he decided to fold it and write notes on that. Particularly sweet little notes he slipped into her stack of books and under her army of long pencils. But his style was different when he folded for Jinora. For Jinora, he folded flowers and butterflies. Always with a message that made her heart flutter.

_Ready for a break, Jin?_

_Want to play airball when you have free time? _

_Im bored out of my mind! Get me out of here!_

However simple and short they were, she still smiled when she read them. Because now they weren't just pieces of paper. They were pieces of Kai.

**Ok, I know I didn't do a good job on the note part but I tried, ok? Don't forget to review if you want to suggest a theme. Only restrictions are I don't use swear words and I don't write about mature topics. Otherwise, the sky is the limit! Stay tuned for chapter eight.**


	8. Books

**Here is chapter number eight! Don't forget to review if you want to suggest a theme for a four chapter set. I am out of ideas and could appreciate the help. Enjoy!**

**i don't own these guys.**

Jinora liked to read. Kai liked being read to. So they learned early on how to co-exist peacefully. In Jinora's opinion, they were Oma and Shu. Forbidden to be together, but they found ways. Like reading. Tenzin couldn't protest against Jinora teaching Kai a bit of history. So while they learned about the past through countless stories, they were also creating a future. Their future.

**This one was short, but that's what I love about drabbles. More should be coming soon.**


	9. Cookies

**this theme is from a good friend and it will be Christmas. This one is a Christmas AU. I dont know, it that a thing? If it exists that's what it is. Ok. I'll stop my babbling and get on with the story. Enjoy!**

**i don't own the legend of Korra.**

"Are you sure this is enough?" Kai asked, holding the cup of sugar in front of his eyes and squinting.

"That's what the recipe calls for, isn't it, Kai?" Jinora answered.

"Yeah. But these are _sugar___cookies, aren't they?" He asked again.

Jinora rolled her eyes. "These are not for the cookies Kai. They're already in the oven."

"I knew that." He said proudly, glancing at the oven.

"Now we're making the frosting." She concluded.

Kai wondered how he could have forgotten the cookies. He had made the dough with his best friend the day before, and stuck it in the oven ten minutes ago.

He realized that Jinora was talking to him.

"-butter, powdered sugar, and milk."

"What?" He asked.

"Kai, please get the vanilla, butter, powdered sugar, and milk."

"Right." He said catapulting out if his chair.

"Not so much , Kai." Jinora said.

Kai stopped in his tracks. "Jinora." He said looking her right in the eye. "I do never ever ever want to hear you say the words too much and frosting in the same sentence again."

"Too much frosting." She said with her eyes sparkling.

"How dare you! Lies! All lies! There has not, is not, will never be any such thing as too much frosting."

And he went back to smothering his cookie in frosting.

Jinora smothered a giggle with a sigh. And she went back to making neat, perfect cookies.

and everything was right in the world again


	10. Tree

**I love Christmas fanfiction. There is so much you can do with it. Anyway, enjoy this one!**

**dont own Korra **

"Whoa." Kai said, staring up at the tree. It was a full ten feet, it's pine leaves spreading out further than it seemed possible. He had never seen anything like it before.

"I think this one would fit in our house, Kai" Jinora said, gesturing towards a considerably smaller one a few feet away.

"This is so cool. You know, I've never really celebrated a holiday before, I mean getting two meals a day was a cause to celebrate." Kai didn't know why he'd said this, it was just so...personal. But something about Jinora made him want to tell her everything. She was welcoming and fun and he felt comfortable with her like he never had with anyone before.

"Wow. I'm really sorry Kai. But from now on, you have a place in our family forever. You won't have to worry about that again." She smiled.

They ended up going with a tree of Pema's choice. They decorated it with a seemingly endless supply of brightly colored lights, and countless ornaments. Kai loved every second of it. And it was the same in all the years that followed. But his favorite was the one where he and Jinora brought a tree home to an apartment in republic city. A home that was all their own.


	11. Stockings

**I. Cannot. Believe. This. People. How was there no kainora REUNION in REUNION?! This is an outrage. I am burying myself in the kainora communities for comfort right now. **

**Dont own lok**

Kai was very perplexed at the moment. He was looking at what seemed to be a severely oversized sock. Hanging over the fireplace. With his name in big fancy letters. No one was still awake, but he had come down to the kitchen for a drink. "This is a fire hazard." He thought to himself. He proceeded to take them all down and put them on a chair. Upon further inspection, he realized there were five of them. One for Jinora and each of her siblings, and one for him.

"Ikki, I swear if your sneaking down to the kitchen for a treat again... Oh. Kai. It's you."

He spun around to face his best friend (although he hoped to be more than that one day.)

"Don't get too exited." He said.

"Kai, what are you doing? It's late." She asked.

"I was getting a drink." Kai said truthfully he gestured towards the socks. "Then I saw these and realized that it was a fire hazard." He finished proudly.

Jinora laughed.

"what's so funny?" He asked

"Kai, those are Christmas stockings." She said softly.

"and?" He asked

"Tonight, Santa Claus will supposedly come and fill them with prizes and such." She said.

"Why supposedly?" He asked.

"I don't really believe in him any more." And she proceeded to tell him about the tale of Santa.

"I see." He said carefully, still trying to process it all.

"c'mon, let's go back to bed." She whispered.

"k." Kai answered. He returned the so called 'Christmas stockings' to there rightfull places on the mantel and followed Jinora to bed.

He dreamed of reindeer and sugar plums all night.

**i really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have to say this is the set I am the most proud of so far. Review! Pleeeeeaaaasesssssseeee!**


	12. Mistletoe

**The one you've all been waiting for...mistletoe! Personally I think that would be very cute to see on the show if they celebrated Christmas. Oh, and this is the last chapter for this set, so if you wish to speed up the writing process, review with a theme I can use for four chapters.**

**Enjoy!**

**I don't own the legend of Korra.**

Kai didn't know. He had absolutely no idea. He just happened to be standing under a Christmas plant. No big deal, right? Apparently not. He was reading chapter eighteen, and was currently trying to decipher yet another huge word.

"Hey, Jinora! What does AGGER-fate-Ing mean?" He yelled across the room.

"Let me see." She said crossing the room. "I see. Aggravating. It means it annoys you. For example, it aggregates me that you only read by force." She said.

Then came Korra.

"Hey kids." She said.

"hello, Korra." They answered.

"What are you waiting for?" She asked with a hint of mischief in her voice.

"For what?" Kai asked.

"You two are under the mistletoe." She answered plainly. "I'm sure Jinora will explain it to you."

Kai turned to Jinora. "What's mistletoe?" He asked.

Jinora turned red. "That." She said pointing to the plant above them. "If two people are caught under the mistletoe together, they have to kiss."

"I was never here." Korra said, walking swiftly out of the room.

"we don't have to. It's just a silly tradition." Jinora said, with an even redder face if that was possible.

"But it would be disrespectful to not honor your family's traditions, right?"

"I guess so." Jinora answered. And without another word they drew together. The best two and a half second of their lives.

"Meet back here in an hour?" Kai asked, still grinning.

"Do you really have to ask?" Jinora said with a matching expression.

And they went their seperate ways. For now, at least.

**I hope you liked this. Review!**


	13. Scrabble

**This set of chapters was inspired by a good friend. Reviews are always awesome, and ideas are more than welcome. Four chapters about borAd games. Yay. Here it goes.**

**I don't own the legend of Korra**

Kai swung a bag over his shoulder and headed towards the library. Jinora was in there, and somehow she was going to help him with spelling. He just didn't get it. Even if he could somehow manage to figure out the rules, they were useless. Because there were always exceptions. He stopped at the library door and pushed without hesitation. Jinora waved him over to a table by the window. Kai went over and plopped down in a chair across from her. On the table was...what was on the table? It seemed to be a game board of some sort, covered in equal squares. In a box were what looked like hundreds of little squares, each with a number in the bottom corner.

"Hi Kai." She greeted him warmly.

"Hey." He said. Kai wasted no time. "What is this?" He asked.

"This is a game called Scrabble. It's a spelling game." She said happily, and proceeded to explain the rules of the game to Kai.

"Get it?" She asked.

Kai's head was spinning by this time, but he said yes and offered the first turn to Jinora, hoping to catch on.

She distributed some of the letters and spelled LAP. She turned towards Kai expectantly.

He looked down at his letters for the first time. His haul consisted of J, D, A, T, N, and K.

The young airbender threw his A and T below her P.

She added I, N, and G. And the game went on, with corrections and near misses, until the entire bored was nearly covered. He had to spell a word beginning with L. That was the only space left.

His letters consisted of O,V,L,Y,G, and E. Great. He could spell love in a scrabble game with his crush. He could give up, or keep going.

It's just a game. He told himself as his hands automatically put down letters.

Jinora looked from the board, to him, to the window. He thought her cheeks were a bit red. After a minute she used the last spaces. She put a Y above the E and a S below it. She **cleared** the board, praised his accomplishment, and set up another game for tomorrow.

He walked away smiling.

This was the first of many, many scrabble games, for when the married, they promised to play at least one game a week. But they never did, of corse.

They always played two.

**I hope you liked it. The next game might be checkers, not sure. This isn't my favorite chapter, but I needed something up. Better ones coming soon. Please review.**


	14. Checkers

**I haven't updated in a long time and a have been feeling super guilty, so I promise that all of my multi-chapter stories will be updated twice before Christmas. I've gotta get to it now to keep that promise!**

**I don't own the legend of Korra**

Checkers. In other words, boring. Kai found this definition perfectly acceptable, Jinora...didn't.

It was just a game where the most exiting thing to happen was, "ooh, look! I jumped over the red one!" But Jinora wanted to play it with him so badly today. So he was torn. The question he had in his mind right now was, Jinora, or an afternoon of exploring. He made a decision, which wasn't really that hard, because there had never been a question, not really anyway.

He met Jinora in her favorite spot, the library.

She was sitting in the table next to the window, by the table where the pair played Scrabble on Tuesdays. He sat down across from Jinora.

"Welcome...to the checkers table!" She said gesturing grandly toward the checked board and pile of red and black circles.

"Yay." Kai said, putting his elbows on the edge of the table and supporting his head with his hands. Jinora looked at him.

Kai shot up and sat with his best posture and began arranging the board.

"I see you've played before" Jinora said observantly.

Kai ignored her and sun the board so he had control of the blacks.

"Reds first." He said.

Jinora advanced her soldier, and Kai his. Soon he was sitting on the edge of his seat. There hadn't been much competition on the streets.

Jinora beat him.

Twenty times. Until she forced him to stop. It drove him crazy, and the first time he ever beat her was on his birthday, although he expected that this had been arranged.

Because, as always, everything was better with Jinora.

A/N

one update down, eleven to go. See ya soon, REVEIW, pass it on. See you back here soon!


	15. The Game of Life

**I'm not dead. I know you're probably surprised to hear that since I haven't updated for so long, but... *grabs a hairbrush and sings super off-tune* I have a four day weekend! I have have a four day weekend! **

**Next theme is movies! So stay tuned for that, and review with your own theme idea!**

** I don't own LOK**

Jinora walked through the big front doors of the temple. She was going outside to her favorite tree, a weeping willow. Kai was supposed to be there,with a game. The game of life. Jinora arrived at the tree a few hundred yards away from the doors, and Kai was waiting. This was surprising, seeing as the only things Kai was on time for were dinner, and sky bison training. But here he was, grinning with the game board all set up.

He was the one that wanted to play this game, Jinora believed it to be unrealistic and not productive. But, Kai had played checkers without fail whenever she insisted they had played scrabble a million times that week, so, here she was.

"Hey." Kai said.

"Hi, Kai." Jinora answered pleasantly.

"Ladies first."

Jinora selected a yellow card.

"College." She said without hesitation.

Kai drew two cards.

"Lawyer or vet for your college job?"

"Vet." Jinora answered confidently. "I'd rather heal innocent animals than defend criminals or send accused people to jail."

Kai pounced on the green car and picked two career cards.

"Cop, or Daredevil." He said. Kai threw the police car behind his back. He noticed Jinora's worried look.

"Game, 'Nora."

Jinora graduated, bought a piece of art, and started a snail farm.

Kai got a raise, inherited a fortune, and brought his cat to work and was fired. He reinstated himself after paying a $10,000 fee.

Jinora stopped at the square with two intertwined ring. She grabbed a blue man and stuck him in the passenger seat.

"Why can't he drive?" Kai questioned, who'd placed his wife in the very back.

Jinora laughed. "You really think i'd trust you with a car?" Then she turned red, wishing she could grab the words back.

"You have a point." Kai admitted, hoping he didn't look like Jinora. He took his turn. Life went on.

Jinora had two small girls, a boy, then twins. Kai had a girl, boy, boy, and twins. The game finished, both retiring at the cozy cottage.

Jinora stood up and brushed off her pants and thanked Kai for the game. She retreated to her room. Why was she so stupid? She had made it sound like she wanted to marry Kai! Which had never crossed her mind. At all. In any point in time.

But they never played that board game again.

Or at least, not after they had a family of their own. Just to see how far off the game was.


End file.
